Good evening everybody,
Bobby Manning here with a Bobby bomb in your inbox.
This is The Bobcast Newsletter, which draws back on my first audio project that started in 2016 and gave me much of the inspiration and advice I followed to Syracuse University and sports media. Around that time, Twitter served as my mouthpiece to get content and thoughts out there. I spread The Bobcast by sending countless DMs to people who followed me and I appreciate those who both listened and got annoyed through that method.
Social has changed. It’s become a less reliable point of connection between me and you. So I’m trying this out. Every week, give or take, I’ll be sending musings, extended thoughts from the worlds I cover and my own life. I added many of you as friends, family and people I’ve connected with before. I do not plan to inundate your inbox, but if you find I am feel free to unsubscribe through this email or email me at BMann260@gmail.com. Let’s get it started.
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Changes
Saturday marked a sad transition on several levels. Syracuse basketball played its final home game of the year, one I couldn’t make it out to CNY to cover. It wasn’t a great game, the Orange’s rebounding woes, poor defense and foul trouble undermined another early effort. Syracuse lost to North Carolina — believe it or not the worst team in the ACC this year. If you want finer details, I expanded on a finish to a weird week here: https://www.nunesmagician.com/2020/2/29/21159432/three-takeaways-north-carolina-tar-heels-syracuse-orange-jimmy-fallon-tom-brady-college-basketball
I also wrote about Bourama Sidibe this week, Syracuse’s physically gifted center who can’t stop fouling and became the lightning rod for this team’s struggles (they’re 9-9 in the ACC). He had the best week of his three-year career, with 17 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks against UNC. It came out of nowhere to cap his season of immense struggles: https://www.nunesmagician.com/2020/2/27/21155667/bourama-sidibe-syracuse-once-dreamed-of-arrived-against-pittsburgh-orange-ncaa-college-jim-boeheim
This officially wrapped my year covering games at the Dome. In 2015, the thought that I’d get into the school never mind report on the basketball would’ve been everything. It wasn’t as complete or comprehensive coverage as I would’ve hoped, as I graduated and moved away from Syracuse in December, but I’m proud of how I made the coverage my own. It’s a reminder that even as I stress daily with post-grad anxiety, I’ve gotten to live out many of my dreams by 22. Thanks to James Szuba and John Casillo over at NunesMagician who gave me a chance in 2017, as well as Matthew Gutierrez at The Athletic and Mike Waters at Syracuse.com who became friends through the process.
In another mark of change — a whirlwind of which I’ve experienced since 2016 — Adam Weitsman announced a GOAT would be sitting with him at the UNC game. Many, including myself, assumed Michael Jordan given his connection to Syracuse through his son in-law and UNC. Weitsman, a local businessman, has brought Rob Gronkowski, Odell Beckham Jr., among others to the Dome for big matchups. I asked after he brought Carmelo Anthony how they connected, and his response remains the same. He’s become good friends with these people. *Shrug*
Saturday he brought out a murderer’s row — not Jordan (figures, as he wouldn’t have been rooting for Syracuse). It was Tom Brady. Brady, in turn, brought Julian Edelman and Jimmy Fallon.
The trio were a hit and Fallon proved to be the perfect complement. He tweeted from the Syracuse PR director’s laptop, went nuts along the sideline for Syracuse despite lacking a connection, jumped into a shot-making contest and heaved one-armed threes into the crowd. Then, he headed toward the band and the crowd loved it.
I haven’t watched The Tonight Show often in recent years. I rarely missed it growing up. Every afternoon my dad would replay the previous night’s episodes of Jay Leno and David Letterman from the other room. It became a staple bonding experience along with our boat rides and projects around the house. As I got into high school, we were put on to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. His music integration resonated with both of us. The skits and games were hilarious. His personality, infectious.
We watched his final Late Night, singing a farewell with the Muppets as he traipsed across the hall to replace Leno. On the other network, Letterman said his goodbye for a newcomer named Stephen Colbert — who would play a bigger role in my college life than I imagined. The era certainly changed, we caught less episodes as I dug into sportswriting and high school life. Since my dad passed away in 2017, I reflect often in the quiet back room where his belly laughs once rang throughout the house. It’s quiet at night, too quiet. So the Tonight and Late Shows help fill that silence and take me back to 2012-2016.
Other content from this week…
Robert Williams — I popped by Celtics shoot around on Saturday to hear from Robert Williams, the high-flying, shot-blocking C’s center largely forgotten due to his 37-game absence with a hip condition. He’s a miraculous talent, one Brad Stevens and Boston will quickly integrate for energy and rim protection. His first two years in the league have been plagued by injuries more than the late, immaturity that earned him the “Time Lord” nickname from The Riffs Man on Twitter (I’ll explain another day). Saturday wasn’t the night for that integration though, I wrote about the challenges the Houston Rockets present that changed how the Celtics ideally want to play. Houston swept the season series last night and Williams played 0 minutes — https://www.celticsblog.com/2020/2/29/21159179/welcome-back-robert-williams-to-the-celtics-lineup-boston-rockets-houston-kemba-walker-nba-center
Jayson Tatum — Remember Larry Bird, Paul Pierce, Isaiah Thomas, John Havlicek? Jayson Tatum just put his name among the measuring sticks in Boston Celtics history as one of six to average 30.0+ points per game in a month. Tatum’s in his third season with a leg up for most-improved player, as a lethal scoring force who can lead the pick-and-roll on offense while blocking shots and cutting off passing lanes on defense. He capped February with another 32 against the Rockets, and had some jaw-dropping efforts against the LA Clippers, Lakers and Utah Jazz. The Celtics haven’t been healthy since opening night, but closed February winning 12 of 16 games. I broke down how Tatum adjusted his game to become a star with some help from Coach Nick at BBallBreakdown and Jeff Goodman — https://www.celticsblog.com/2020/2/29/21158806/jayson-tatum-changed-his-game-to-lead-celtics-boston-video-breakdown-nba-jaylen-brown-coach-nick
Syracuse Basketball Podcast — Every week, give or take, James and I discuss Syracuse basketball and win over on the NunesMagician podcast stream. A week ago we talked to recruiting reporter Jake Weingarten in the second half about five-star, 2020 prospect Dior Johnson committing to the Syracuse Orange, the biggest recruiting break for a program struggling on that front since 2015. Johnson says he’ll bring talent with him to Syracuse. Could a new golden era emerge to end Jim Boeheim’s now 44-year career, and what impact does his age have on this eventually coming to fruition? — https://www.nunesmagician.com/2020/2/22/21148347/syracuse-basketball-podcast-orange-vs-georgia-tech-preview-dior-johnson-recruiting-boeheim
Don’t discount Kemba Walker’s importance to the Celtics even as Tatum rises and the team wins — Walker is dealing with a nagging knee injury that’s persisted since January, and hasn’t played since the all-star break. It’s scaring some after a decade of nagging injuries becoming season-derailing ones — and Boston cannot afford to lose him https://www.clnsmedia.com/manning-kemba-walker-critical-celtics-even-jayson-tatum-rises/
Subscribe to Dome Theory — The Bobcast is back, now as Dome Theory. It’s inspired by two places I spent a considerable amount of time in college. It’ll feature friends, music with my good friend and industry insider Jamel Smith and our interview series from The Bobcast. Search engine optimization, thanks to other Bobcasts, killed the old name, but it’s still the same great show that started in 2016. Last week we talked to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo about North Carolina basketball, the Red Sox after Mookie Betts and the most important Spring Training for baseball in recent memory. Subscribe and listen through any steam you can think of here — https://audioboom.com/posts/7512559-chris-cotillo-how-to-save-mlb-through-houston-astros-controversy
Something I didn’t do, but you should check out anyway — My heart felt for Bomani Jones, whose show “High Noon” got cancelled by ESPN this week after a year or so on the air. He’s brilliant, funny and thought-provoking and I ran into his Ted Talk about how creatives often overlook the basic structure needed to do what you want to do. Simple, but it resonated. Bomani was another figure my dad and I loved to watch during his time on Dan Le Batard’s Highly Questionable. I met him in 2018 at the ACC Tournament and got nervous, so we just hit it off about the desserts in the press room before I told him I grew up watching him. “Grew up!?”
Have a great week and thank you for reading.